Men’s Basketball: Notebook  Seniors say goodbye

Saturday

Mar 29, 2014 at 11:18 AM

NEW YORK — It was far from the ending they would have scripted, but Iowa State’s two starting seniors managed to find perspective after seeing their careers end in the Cyclones’ 81-76 loss to Connecticut on Friday in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.

NEW YORK — It was far from the ending they would have scripted, but Iowa State’s two starting seniors managed to find perspective after seeing their careers end in the Cyclones’ 81-76 loss to Connecticut on Friday in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.

"I’m happy to be a Cyclone," Marshall transfer DeAndre Kane said. "I was happy I came here for one year to play with guys like Melvin (Ejim), Georges (Niang). Everybody on this team. I love this team.

"We’ll never forget the journey we went on this year. It’s been great. Sweet 16, but we’ve got to move on. Me and Mel have got to move on."

It was an unceremonious end to one of the top Cyclone careers for Ejim. The Big 12 player of the year was 3-of-13 from the floor, missing nine straight shots at one point, for seven points.

"I just wasn’t having a good night," Ejim said. "Credit to their big men, they had a couple great blocks and made it difficult for me."

He became ISU’s all-time starts leader in the postseason and is also tied for the most career NCAA tournament games by a Cyclone.

"It’s unfortunate that we lost here," Ejim said, "but we’ve done so many great things this year, putting this program on the map. Incredible stuff. Why would I let one loss where we didn’t play particularly well — I didn’t play particularly well — eclipse all that?"

For Kane, the night marked the end of a career that skyrocketed in its final season. He earned All-American status while averaging 17.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

"The goals that we wanted to accomplish as a team," Kane said, "I think we did that. This is not how we wanted it to end in the Sweet 16, I think we wanted to go down to Dallas and cut down those nets but to make it to this point, it’s been great.

"It’s been great for the program, great for our fans. We cut the nets down in Kansas City (at the Big 12 tournament). It hadn’t been done a long time. To make it to the Sweet 16 is great. Sixteen teams left out of the whole country, it was a long ride for us.

"A great journey, and I can’t be more happy for coach (Fred Hoiberg), giving me a second chance, start my career over, and I hope I made him proud."

Kane and Ejim became just the second Cyclone duo in program history to both score more than 600 points in a season.

"It sucks to send those seniors (out) like this on a loss," sophomore Naz Long said, "and I just hope whatever their future holds, it’ll be fine because they’re some great guys and some great players."

Hogue explodes

Lost in the season-ending defeat was a brilliant performance from junior Dustin Hogue, who was 15-of-19 from the floor for a career-high 34 points just a few miles from where he grew up in Yonkers, N.Y.

"We were searching for something to get us going," Hoiberg said, "and Dustin was the answer. He had a mismatch, and he was going to work. He went right through a couple guys on some drives to the basket. He was just so aggressive."

Hogue’s previous career-high was 22.

"It was definitely a beautiful experience for me," Hogue said. "I’ve come a long way in my basketball career to have this opportunity."

Hogue transferred to ISU from Indian Hills Community College this season.

"I’m proud of him," Long said. "He took everybody’s tickets. He had like 30 people (family and friends) out there, and he showed out tonight. He really showed he’s capable of doing things."

Future ahead

ISU will be replacing a pair of All-Americans in Kane and Ejim, but will return three starts and five of its top seven, while also adding transfers Jameel McKay and Abdel Nader along with top-100 prep player Clayton Custer.

"I love our group moving forward," Hoiberg said.

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